Regular Jogging Exercises can Prevent Weight Gain Even in Those With 'Obesity Genes'

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Highlights:

• Obesity is a global health challenge and occurs due to a combination of lifestyle and genetic factors. It is associated with several health risks such as heart disease, lung disease and certain cancers
• Doctors often recommend regular exercising such as walking to manage obesity, but it is not clear what type of exercises are best to avoid weight gain in persons with a family history of obesity
• Jogging is found to be the best way to avoid obesity although walking, power walking, mountain climbing, practicing yoga regularly, and certain dance moves can help ward off obesity

Regular jogging is the best way to avoid excess weight gain in people who carry obesity genes, finds a new study of Han Chinese adults by scientists at Wan-Yu Lin of National Taiwan University. The findings of the study appear in PLOS Genetics.

Determining Which Exercise Routines are Best to Prevent Obesity

• The study included 18,424 Han Chinese adults between the ages of 30 to 70 years, with a genetic predisposition to obesity
• The study team analyzed the association between participants' self-reported exercise routines in curbing weight gain in these individuals
• Obesity was measured by five parameters including BMI (body mass index), waist to hip ratio and body fat percentage
• The study determined that jogging was the ideal exercise routine to prevent obesity, especially in people with a family history of obesity
• Other beneficial workouts included walking, power walking, mountain climbing, practicing yoga regularly, and certain dance moves
• Interestingly, swimming, stretching exercises, cycling, and Dance Dance Revolution were not of much benefit in preventing obesity

Thus, the findings of the study suggest that it is not the end of the world for persons with a family history of obesity. They can easily avoid obesity by engaging in regular exercises, especially jogging.

‘Although doctors recommend working out or walking every day to reduce weight, it remains unclear what exercises are ideal to avoid obesity in persons in whom obesity runs in the family. Study finds jogging to be the best exercise to prevent excess weight gain in these individuals despite obesity genes.’

Merits of Current Study

Previous studies on the same subject measured only body mass index (BMI) to determine obesity, but the current study measured four other parameters that are shown to be associated with metabolic syndrome.

About Obesity

Obesity refers to persons who have excess body fat and are overweight. The most common parameter used to characterize obesity is body mass index (BMI). It is calculated by dividing your weight in kilos by square of your height in meters. For example, a person weighing 75 kgs with a height of 1.7m will have a BMI of 25.9.

Grading Obesity by BMI

• 18.5 to 24.9 - Healthy weight
• 25 to 29.9 - Overweight
• 30 to 39.9 - Obese
• 40 or above - Severe obesity

Obesity can cause several health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, breathlessness, depression and low self esteem and reduced life expectancy. The safest way to manage obesity is to eat a healthy, balanced diet, avoid fried and junk foods and exercise regularly.

In summary, persons with familial obesity need not be disheartened. They can easily avoid obesity and other related health complications by participating in regular physical activities like jogging, walking, yoga, and certain dance moves.

References:

1. Performing different kinds of physical exercise differentially attenuates the genetic effects on obesity measures: Evidence from 18,424 Taiwan Biobank participants - (https:journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1008277)

Source: Medindia

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